MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Tulsa capped one of the greatest seasonsin school history by relying on the two strengths that carriedthe Golden Hurricane all season: running the ball and rushingthe passer.

Trey Watts rushed for 149 yards, Alex Singleton ran for threescores and Tulsa avenged a season-opening loss to Iowa Statewith a 31-17 victory in the rainy Liberty Bowl on Monday.

Tulsa's defense recorded five sacks, forced three turnovers andheld Iowa State scoreless over the final three quarters as theGolden Hurricane erased an early 10-point deficit.

"We never wavered, not for a second," said Watts, selected asthe game's most valuable player.

The Golden Hurricane (11-3) posted the second 11-win season inschool history. Tulsa, which has the smallest enrollment of anyFootball Bowl Subdivision program, also finished 11-3 in 2008.

Iowa State (6-7) rallied to beat Tulsa 38-23 on Sept. 1, but theGolden Hurricane put together the comeback in the rematch. Tulsatrailed 17-7 at the end of the first quarter.

"They've accomplished something nobody else at Tulsa has done,"Tulsa coach Bill Blankenship said. "That's a huge deal for us.We've had a team that won 11 before, so we tied that. We had ateam that won the Liberty Bowl before and won Conference USA.We've done that. But we did it all in the same year (thisseason)."

Both teams had changed quite a bit since that regular-seasonopener.

Iowa State's Steele Jantz, who threw two touchdown passes andran for a third score in the season opener, lost his startingjob to redshirt freshman Sam Richardson. The Cyclones' leadingrusher (Shontrelle Johnson) and top tackler (Jake Knott) fromthe Sept. 1 game missed the Liberty Bowl with injuries.

Tulsa linebacker Shawn Jackson, a three-year starter, wasserving a three-game suspension during the last meeting withIowa State. Jackson sacked Richardson on consecutive plays latein the first quarter Monday and forced a fumble in the game'sclosing minutes.

"I felt like I left my guys down (in September)," Jackson said."I wanted to give the defense a little spark."

After going 6 for 7 for 114 yards and a touchdown in the firstquarter, Richardson was 4 of 14 for 15 yards with aninterception the rest of the day while battling flu-likesymptoms. Jantz replaced Richardson early in the fourth quarter.

"You can't ask much more from a young player like Sam," saidIowa State linebacker A.J. Klein, who tied a Liberty Bowl recordwith 19 tackles. "He's going to have a great career the rest ofhis time here at Iowa State. That's the type of people we wantto build this program around, people that will give it up, nomatter what condition they're in."

Iowa State capitalized on big plays to take an early 17-7 leadin front of a partisan crowd. About 80 percent of the fans weredressed in Iowa State cardinal-and-gold.

After Edwin Arceo capped Iowa State's opening series with a33-yard field goal, Jeremy Reeves put the Cyclones in front 10-0with a 31-yard interception return midway through the firstquarter.

But after moving the ball at will in the opening period, IowaState's offense did virtually nothing right the rest of the day.

"Games are often won and lost at the line of scrimmage, and wedid not play a physical enough brand of football to move thesticks enough and stay on the field enough to get it in the redzone, let alone get it in the end zone," Iowa State coach PaulRhoads said.

Tulsa took the lead for good with a pair of touchdown runs - an8-yarder from quarterback Cody Green and a 2-yarder fromSingleton - in the first four minutes of the second quarter.Tulsa extended the lead to 28-17 in the third quarter onSingleton's 1-yard dive on fourth-and-goal.

The Golden Hurricane's comeback followed a familiar pattern.Tulsa headed into the bowl game ranked third in the nation insacks (48) and 11th in rushing (240.2).

"These guys are a very tough-minded, physical and resilientteam," Blankenship said. "I couldn't be prouder."

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